8 smart and sassy crime fiction writers dish on writing and life.
It's The View. With bodies.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Elegant Violence

JAN: I was driving home last night behind a car with a bumper sticker promoting Rugby defining it as ELEGANT VIOLENCE. And I thought.... hey that's a perfect description of how I like to write crime. I like to have just enough violence in it to make it suspenseful and believable, not too much to make it gory. I like the writing to be spare and well constructed. You could call that elegant.

It gave me an idea for a game. Here are the rules. You all must define your writing/or your aspiration for writing/or your definition of mystery or crime writing in two words. The first one is an adjective the second is a noun and you can't use any of the words that anyone else used.

DEBS:CAPTIVATING CRIME. Although I can't come up with anything that beats ELEGANT VIOLENCE.

RHYS: ATMOSPHERIC HISTORICAL (If I'm allowed historical as a noun. Heck ,I've just made it at noun.) for the Molly Murphy series and SMASHING ROMPS for the Royal Spyness books.

ROSEMARY: Oh, dear. (No, that's not it.) RUTHLESS PEOPLE. Yes, it's an old movie title but so was everything else I thought of MALICE AFORETHOUGHT, DANGEROUS LIAISONS, etc.

ROBERTA/LUCY: FIENDISH FOODIES.

JAN: Anyone else care to play along?? You can describe your own writing, mystery or suspense writing in general in two perfectly chosen words. Think if it as the headline for your own personal review.

In other matters, I'm not sure you can actually pick a winner of our little game, but there was a winner Thursday.

Donnell from Colorado won a Kindle version of "How to Write a Dick: A Guide to Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths" generously provided by authors Colleen Collins & Shaun Kaufman

Jungle Red Writers has been named one of the top 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writers Digest, one of the top 50 mystery blogs by CourtReporter, and one of the top 100 creative writing blogs by Best Colleges Online